Sunday school lesson info
FW: The Voice of Missouri E-Newsletter
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Late morning News: A few things added
1. FAMILY NIGHT WILL RESUME THIS COMING MONDAY AT 6:15pm. All are welcome to attend! Just a bring a dish to share!
2. OFFERING STATEMENTS ARE IN YOUR CHURCH MAILBOXES!!! Please pick them up when you come to worship this weekend!
3. OFFERING ENVELOPES, OF THOSE WHO HAVEN'T PICKED THEM UP, ARE IN CHURCH MAILBOXES!! If you are a confirmed member of St. John's you have offering envelopes, and you have a church mailbox!!
4. STEAK DINNER AND AUCTION IS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13!!! TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS WEEKEND FOR $25 EACH!
Please support your junior high and high school youth!!! Bring your checkbooks! There are also lots of those colored envelopes for you to fill up!! You can do that this weekend too when you bring your checkbook!
5. DOOR OFFERING TO HELP FLOOD AND TORANDO VICTIMS THIS WEEKEND!! ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO LCMS WORLD RELIEF. One of the best organizations at getting the relief needed to people the fastest!
Daily Email: Thursday, January 7, 2016
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
A lot of times we talk about Baptism as the washing away of sin, and we should. That is PART of what baptism does, but that's not all. When we are baptized it is in the name of the Father, who created us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who makes us holy. This means that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit now live in us. We are reborn into their names. As Paul says, "Therefore it is no linger I who live but Christ who lives in me.
So what does this mean for my life and the lives of my children who I baptized when they were less than a day old? It means that I must now live by the Spirit's prompting. If the Spirit says go, I go. If the Spirit says stay, I stay. If the Holy Spirit says listen to me and I Word, I listen. It means that I am no longer a slave to sin but now a slave to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His will is my will!
What does it mean for my duty to my children and to those for whom I was privileged to be a sponsor (godparent). It means that I am responsible for making sure that their life in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not negated by my laziness and sin. I am responsible that they too live by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, that they confess their sins, that they repent as the Spirit leads them, that they too listen to God's Word and believe it, and that they rest in god's grace every day of their lives.
It truly hurts my heart when I see parents and sponsors not taking that job seriously. The kids are hurt because of the spiritual neglect of their parents and sponsors. I know that, at times, my children have even been hurt by it, as I have failed to pray for them, to share the love and forgiveness of Christ with them, and taught them God's Word as I should.
If you are a parent who is failing in this way, REPENT! Turn from your neglect of your spiritual duty towards your children and live by the prompting of the Holy Spirit to love your children with all your heart, and to give them everything you can when it comes to the knowledge of Jesus as Savior. Don't wait till it's too late. Don't let your own laziness, or stubbornness get in the way. Do your duty!
Let us pray: Lord, thank you for baptizing us in Your name. Help us to live as you prompt us! Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Thurs- Alzheimers Group 1pm
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45; Elder's Meeting Noon; High School Youth Bible Study and Pizza @ Church 5pm
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Dawn Sherman; 11- John Pezold
Ushers- Allan Dreyer, Lew Feldkamp, Kent Jacobsmeyer, Paul Klovver
Altar- Set up- Marilyn Foster and Sue Ruhl; Clean up- Wanda Turnure
Elders- Sat- Steve Robine; 8:30- John Hachtel; 11-Dave Winter
Greeters- 8:30- Tom and Pam Linke; 11- Doug and Ruth Walters
Lay readers- Zach Hoelscher; Hannah Johnson
Sat. Pianist- Kathy Barrow
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: ???????
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YESTERDAY'S BIBLE QUIZ: When Abram and Lot separated, because the land couldn't support both of them with their large flocks and herds, which way did each of them go?
Pat's answer:
As things became crowded there was fighting between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and of Lot's men. So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not fight, we're family. We have the whole land in front of us. If you choose the right side, I'll take the left, and if you choose the left, I'll take the right."
So Lot looked over the land beyond Jordan and saw a well watered plain, and chose the side on the east - which was the area of Jordan - for it was like "the garden of the LORD", before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the formation of the salt sea. (Genesis 13:9-11)
Abram remained in the land of Canaan. After Lot left, God said to Abram, Look from where you are to the north, south, east and west, as far as you can see. All the land that you see, I will give it to you and to your seed forever. And I will give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. Now go and walk through the land. Abram chose a place about 30 miles south of Bethel in Hebron, and that was where he pitched his tent and built another altar to God. (BTW: This is where the name "Hebrew" comes from.)
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Daily Email: Wednesday, January 6, 2016
6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.Some might say that believing in Jesus is taking the easy way out. "All we have to do is believe in Jesus", they say. They think that this means that if I just believe in Jesus, that he died on the cross for me and rose from the dead so I can live forever, then I can do whatever I want. I can go commit crimes, cheat on my wife, and be a glutton as much as I want.
This couldn't be further from the truth. The whole reason Christ had to suffer and die in the first place was to pay the penalty for our sin. To think that we can just go do whatever our sinful nature desires is like a dog going back to his own vomit, or like a drug addict going back to his drug after he has just announced that he is clean. We died to sin! Why would we continue to live in it?
The biggest part of confession and repentance is our disgust and shame from our sin. We don't like it. We don't want to do it. We want to turn from it. It is our desire and our want that makes repentance true and real. True repentance comes from the heart and God sees straight to the heart.
Certainly we can't repent of and overcome every sin in this life. We will always have sin in our lives. That doesn't mean we should just give in to sin or, even worse, like it. It doesn't mean that we should live our lives free TO sin.
It means that we live our lives free OF sin. We died to it, means that it is no longer an acceptable part of our lives and should be confessed, repented, and fought against. Our sins should be shoved right back down the devil's throat. They should be left at the cross and not picked up again.
And so we live in this continual, conflictual state as both saint and sinner at the same time. We are saints by virtue of our baptisms into Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us, and we are sinners by virtue of these sinful human bodies that we still live in until the day of our death or the day of judgment, whichever comes first.
So we pray "COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS!" so we can be free of these bodies. Until then we have patience and peace as we continually pray "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with Your FREE spirit. Amen
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CALENDAR:
Wed- Choir 7pm
Thurs- Alzheimers Group 1pm
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45; Elder's Meeting Noon; High School Youth Bible Study and Pizza @ Church 5pm
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Dawn Sherman; 11- John Pezold
Ushers- Allan Dreyer, Lew Feldkamp, Kent Jacobsmeyer, Paul Klovver
Altar- Set up- Marilyn Foster and Sue Ruhl; Clean up- Wanda Turnure
Elders- Sat- Steve Robine; 8:30- John Hachtel; 11-Dave Winter
Greeters- 8:30- Tom and Pam Linke; 11- Doug and Ruth Walters
Lay readers- Zach Hoelscher; Hannah Johnson
Sat. Pianist- Kathy Barrow
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: ???????
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YESTERDAY'S BIBLE QUIZ: Why does the Bible say that God chose Noah to build the ark? Here's Pat King's answer:
Noah was chosen because he was the most righteous man on earth.(Genesis 7:1)
(Ezekiel 14:14)
He 'walked faithfully with God' (Genesis 6:9NIV)
He was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5 NIV)
He showed 'godly fear' (respect) and faith (Hebrews 11:7ASB)
(Note: Someone else better start answering, because Pat is going to be gone for a couple weeks on a trip.)
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Prayer request
A Critical Moment for LCMS Disaster Response—And You Can Help.
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A Critical Moment for LCMS Disaster Response—And You Can Help.
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Daily Email: Tuesday, January 5, 2016
43 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
If there was any doubt whose we are, this passage answers it. We are Almighty God's most precious possession! We, who are chosen by God and called by name, are more precious than anything else.
We tend to think that we are in charge of our lives, and many of us think we are in charge of other people's lives as well. That couldn't be further from the truth. While God has given us our children and others to care for, that doesn't mean we are "in charge" of them or that we are "in control" of them. That is God's job. God alone has the power to give and take away. Blessed be
the name of the Lord.
Instead of acting as owners, we should act as stewards of God's gifts. Stewards take care of things and use things they way the owner, God, wants. Our bodies are not our own, no matter what pro-choice people may want you to think. Our bodies, and all that we are and have, are God's!
I ask you today, how have you been acting? Have you been acting as a steward or as an owner? Repent if you've been acting like an owner. Humble yourselves so that a time of correction and after that peace may come. Turn from thinking that you are in charge and realize that God is. Then also know that this will have to be a daily realization, as your very nature comes from Adam and Eve, and they wanted to be in charge and be their own owners too.
Prayer: Lord help me daily to realize that you are in charge of my life. You are my boss. Amen. __________________________________________________________________
CALENDAR:
Tues- Quilters 9-2; Visitation for Carol Kohrs 9:30-11, Funeral 11am all at Pitman Funeral Home in Wentzville
Wed- Choir 7pm
Thurs- Alzheimers Group 1pm
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45; Elder's Meeting Noon; High School Youth Bible Study and Pizza @ Church 5pm
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Dawn Sherman; 11- John Pezold
Ushers- Allan Dreyer, Lew Feldkamp, Kent Jacobsmeyer, Paul Klovver
Altar- Set up- Marilyn Foster and Sue Ruhl; Clean up- Wanda Turnure
Elders- Sat- Steve Robine; 8:30- John Hachtel; 11-Dave Winter
Greeters- 8:30- Tom and Pam Linke; 11- Doug and Ruth Walters
Lay readers- Zach Hoelscher; Hannah Johnson
Sat. Pianist- Kathy Barrow
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: ???????
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YESTERDAY'S BIBLE QUIZ: Why does the Bible say that God chose Noah to build the ark? (Gonna leave this up for another day, because there was no answer for it yesterday.)
If you'd like it to go to the DCE fund you need to mark it for that! Please make sure you mark the ENVELOPE clearly for the DCE PROGRAM!
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DO YOU HAVE A KROGER CARD? ENROLL IT IN THE COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM!!!
Register it online www.krogercommunityrewards.com and have it swiped each time you shop to earn money for Little Lambs.
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